Magnolia Pictures
Romantic comedies can be wonderful, and Netflix has plenty of them. But there's nothing like an indie romance because an indie romance don't stop. No, seriously. They just don't quit! They don't care to follow the usual formulas, the guy doesn't always get the girl, and the artsy ending outranks the happy ending every time. So when you're in the mood for a love story with a twist (or with the ocassionally dark moments, or with some seriously intense scenes d'amour), check out any of these indie romance films on Netflix.
Take This Waltz
Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Luke Kirby are the lead players in this film and the seasoned actors do fantastic job of carrying this story of a relationship on the outs, as an affair arises. Interestingly enough, Sarah Silverman also has a significant role and delivers a memorable performance as the alcoholic sister of Williams' character. A great romance and a great drama, Take This Waltz is definitely a must-see.
The Other Woman
Based on the novel by Ayelet Waldman, Natalie Portman plays the other woman-turned-wife, turned-step-mother in this 2009 film. Starring alongside Scott Cohen and Lisa Kudrow, the trailer alone will make you totally weepy.
Price Check
Parker Posey is unforgettable in this workplace comedy/affair drama. Totally hilarious and totally bizarre, Posey plays the new boss to Eric Mabius' character whose boring life working in the corporate offices of a supermarket chain gets all shook up when he starts falling for his superior.
Blue Valentine
Only good things can happen when Ryan Gosling teams up with director Derek Cianfrance. This year we got to experience their magic via The Place Beyond The Pines, but back in 2010 Blue Valentine happened and the indie romance genre would never be the same. Gosling and Michelle Williams play Dean and Cindy, and the film follows the two, brilliantly cutting back and forth between their past and contemporary relationship. So intense that it was initially given an NC-17 rating, if you missed this one back when it first came out, do yourself a favor and watch it now!
Nobody Walks
Written by Lena Dunham and Ry Russo-Young, Nobody Walks got lots of attention on the festival circuit last year. Starring Olivia Thirlby and John Krasinsky of The Office, critics raved that the film surged 'with sexuality,' And unlike many films, this drama about a young artist who stays with a family and brings a whole lotta sexual tension with her, women's sexuality is at the center of the narrative and is the very driving force behind the story.
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When it was announced that writer/director Lynne Ramsey was joining forces with Academy Award-winning actress Natalie Portman on the Western Jane Got a Gun, the project sounded like stars aligning. It got better: cast opposite of the Black Swan star was the reliable, mesmerizing Michael Fassbender. As the film trekked forward towards the beginning of its shoot, it continued to gain prestigious additions, including a villain in the form of Zero Dark Thirty's Joel Edgerton. It sounded incredible.
And then it imploded.
Last week, Fassbender departed the film, a mere week before cameras were set to begin rolling. He was quickly replaced by Edgerton, who bumped up to the starring role opposite Portman, with Jude Law jumping on board as the film's villain (Edgerton's original role). Then on May 19 — what was going to be the first day of shooting — news broke that Ramsey had left the project, never arriving to set. With money invested, sets built, and production as underway as it could be without a person in the director's chair, producers on Jane Got a Gunscrambled to find a replacement. The ship wasn't going down, even if the captain had bailed.
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Now the hopeful upswing in the debacle: in less than 24 hours, a replacement for Ramsey has been found. Deadline reports that Warrior director Gavin O'Connor has been hired to helm the picture. There have been casualties by the switch: after O'Connor was revealed to be on board, Law was announced to have left the film, his involvement originally linked to the idea of working with Ramsay. But Edgerton and Portman (a producer on the female revenge flick) are still on board.
This isn't the first time a high-profile movie has suffered from talent shuffling — but it might be the instance closest to the wire. In 2010, after two years of working on both the scripts and designs for The Hobbit movies, director Guillermo Del Toro picked up and left New Zealand, paving the way for last December's Peter Jackson-helmed epic. Del Toro has never explained his decision, suggesting that multiple factors influenced his decision to exit the movie — many pointed to MGM's ongoing financial issues. In less analytical departures, X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn was two weeks away from directing 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand before bailing on the film due to creative clashes with 20th Century Fox. For some, having their vision represented is more important than avoiding a public frenzy.
Sometimes it's not even up to the directors. Steven Soderbergh was removed from his version of Moneyball days before shooting the Brad Pitt-led baseball drama. It was another case of the men with the money not seeing eye to eye with their director's vision: Soderbergh wanted a docudrama version of Moneyball that would intercut Pitt's performance with documentary footage. The idea didn't jive with Sony Pictures, who replaced Soderbergh with Bennett Miller.
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Ramsey penned the script for Jane Got a Gun, and it's possible that, even when the dust settles from the fiasco, she'll walk away with accolades for the film. The same thing happened to director Brenda Chapman, removed from the director's chair by Pixar halfway through her work on Brave. She ended up receiving a "co-director" credit — a title that earned her an Oscar for Best Animated Feature at the 2013 Academy Awards.
As is apparent from Jane's bumpy road to completion, actors are also capable of derailing a movie and sending behind-the-scenes players scrambling for replacements. Jean Claude Van Damme was set to play the title creature in Predator before ditching the movie last minute. He wasn't keen on the requirements of the role, which included wearing a bulky costume and remaining invisible for half the film. Eric Stoltz was infamously replaced by Michael J. Fox weeks into shooting Back to the Future after Fox (the original choice for the role) became available. And most recently, Peter Jackson, unhappy with actor Stuart Townsend's work as Aragon in Lord of the Rings, kindly asked the thespian to step down, eventually hiring Viggo Mortensen for the part.
On-set shuffling isn't a common occurrence in Hollywood, but it's not a sign of disaster either. A film can go both ways: X-Men: The Last Stand, helmed by back-up director Brett Ratner, is looked down upon as a low point in the franchise. Moneyball went on to earn a handful of Oscar nominations. O'Connor is a competent director who impressed (and earned box office cred) with Warrior. Having most recently directed the pilot for The Americans, he knows a thing or two about stepping into someone else's sandbox and building a great castle. If Jane Got a Gun was going to be strong with Ramsey in the driver's seat, it was going to be strong for a number of reasons beyond her directorial efforts (although it sounded promising in the hands of the visually-inclined auteur). Is Jane destined for disaster? Only if they never roll camera.
Which, if the set spontaneously combusts in an act of Godly smiting, could very well be the case.
Follow Matt Patches on Twitter @misterpatches
[Photo Credit: Evan Agostini/AP Photo]
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With the announcement last month of a new Star Wars trilogy beginning with Episode VII in 2015, the minds of fans started racing faster than the Millennium Falcon making the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs. Next to nothing is known about the new movies, but that hasn’t stopped everyone who once owned a Boba Fett lunchbox from wildly speculating about what we could see on our next big-screen journey to that Galaxy Far, Far Away. The most popular questions: Will Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford return? If so, how large will their roles be? And will this new movie give Han Solo the heroic death Ford hoped for but was denied in Return of the Jedi? Star Wars fans, it’s time we take a collective breath. Decades worth of rumors that have swirled around George Lucas’ space opera should tell us that idle speculation usually gets you nowhere. A friend of mine was absolutely convinced after having seen The Empire Strikes Back as a kid that Boba Fett is in fact Luke Skywalker’s father, not Darth Vader. How else could Fett’s shot at Luke on Cloud City have missed its mark at such close range unless Fett deliberately missed. And why did he deliberately miss? Because Luke’s really his son!
Many of these theories say more about us than they do about the films. So before you totally OD on Episode VII speculation, take a look at some of the craziest rumors that have been attached to the Star Wars franchise over the past few decades, and decide for yourself how profitable such theorizing really is.
1. Darth Vader, the Robot—In the immediate aftermath of Star Wars’ 1977 release, chatter focused on what Darth Vader is, as much as who he is. Some fans thought that Vader was actually a robot, citing how he’s completely concealed in armor and how his heavy-footed gait has a metallic clank. Of course, why they thought that a robot would need to breathe is a bit of a headscratcher. And they obviously thought Obi-Wan Kenobi was a liar when he said that Darth Vader was a pupil of his, unless they really think he’d train, rather than just program, a droid. Scratch that, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a liar.
2. Mick Jagger Would Compose The Empire Strikes Back’s Score—This doozy came from an October 1979 issue of Starlog, a now semi-legendary sci-fi zine that’s long since bitten the dust. (And unfortunately is not archived online.) Apparently, a rumor started that John Williams, author of Star Wars’ soaring fanfare of a score, would be replaced with the Rolling Stones lead singer. “Play With Fire” could have made for a killer flashback, though, during which we see Darth Vader’s lava-induced injuries.
3. Han Solo Was Marked for Death—Everyone seemed to think that the spice smuggler was going to bite it, possibly in The Empire Strikes Back. A bunch of different theories spelled out exactly how he would die, though the craziest has to be one in which Han would fight a lightsaber duel—despite not being known to wield a lightsaber—against Darth Vader! Somehow in the course of the duel their respective life-force energies would fuse and they’d become one being, meaning that Luke Skywalker, in trying to defeat Vader, would also have to kill his best friend!
Even Darth Vader performer David Prowse suggested to Starlog in June 1979 that Han would die in a battle with the then-new villain Boba Fett. The surprisingly loose-lipped former wrestler also said that there would be twelve Star Wars movies, and that he would appear as Vader in the prequel installments Episodes II and III. The latter point didn’t happen, obviously, but Prowse wasn’t all wrong. This is something that could only have been kept quiet in the pre-Internet Era, but Prowse actually spoiled the secret of Luke Skywalker’s paternity to a fanzine in April 1978, the quotes from which were published later that summer in The San Francisco Examiner. Yes, he said that Darth Vader is Luke’s father a full two years before The Empire Strikes Back was released, and I quote: “In the film, Alec Guinness goes to great lengths to explain to poor Luke how his father had been killed by Darth Vader. Luke’s father was killed by Darth Vader, right? And how Darth Vader turned to evil, etc., etc. His father was good and all this sort of thing. In the next film, there is going to be a confrontation between Luke and Darth Vader and they then discover that Darth Vader never killed his father, that Darth Vader IS his father. So son can’t kill father, and father can’t kill son—so Darth Vader lives until the next sequel.”
4. Empire or Jedi Would Feature Time Travel—This seems like the musings of some overzealous Star Trek fans for what they’d like to see in Star Wars, but a theory reported by Starlog’s February 1980 issue suggested that the Millennium Falcon would pass through a time warp, sending Luke, Han, and Chewbacca into the era of the Clone Wars. During that time they’d up fighting alongside Luke’s father and Obi-Wan Kenobi. Just think for a moment how awesome a Han Solo/General Grievous showdown would be. Or not.
5. Leonardo DiCaprio as Anakin Skywalker—In 1999, the world’s most beloved movie franchise was about to get relaunched with the prequels. So why shouldn’t Lucasfilm tap the world’s biggest heartthrob, Leonardo DiCaprio, coming right off Titanic mania, as the adolescent Anakin Skywalker for Episode II? Fans everywhere thought he was the most likely choice, but the rumor that George Lucas was considering him for the role wasn't substantiated at the time beyond reports that the actor had visited Skywalker Ranch in Marin County, CA for a private screening of The Phantom Menace. However, this rumor turned out to be true. In 2010, while promoting Inception, DiCaprio finally went on the record to Shortlist about how he was approached for the role. "I did have a meeting with George Lucas about [Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels] as well, yes." he said. “Just didn't feel ready to take that dive. At that point." Other actors reportedly considered at the time were James Van Der Beek, Joshua Jackson, Eric Christian Olsen, Erik von Detten, Ryan Phillippe, and Chris Klein. What could have been!
6. The Prequels Would Show a More Primitive Star Wars Galaxy—Leading up to the release of The Phantom Menace in 1999, many fans thought that the prequels would show a less technologically sophisticated Galaxy Far, Far Away. After all, Episode I was set 33 years before the events of the original Star Wars. So the technology on display should appear regressive, right? Wrong! The underlying technological premise of Star Wars is that there isn’t much further a civilization can evolve once faster-than-light space travel has been invented. Therefore most of the Star Wars galaxy has had the level of tech you see in the original trilogy for thousands of years. That hasn’t stopped fans from griping about it, though.
7. The Obi-Wan/Anakin/Padmé Love Triangle—Also known as “The Theory in Which Obi-Wan is an Even Bigger Liar than Anyone Thought and is Actually Luke’s Father.” For years fans had speculated that the aged Jedi Master was more than just a father figure to Luke. But when the prequels were ramping up in earnest, it seemed like the new films might lend credence to the theory. For one, Natalie Portman’s Padmé Amidala was a mature adolescent in The Phantom Menace, while Jake Lloyd’s Anakin Skywalker was just a snotty ten-year-old who says stuff like “Are you an angel?” and “I’m a person!” Why wouldn’t Naboo’s Queen prefer Ewan McGregor’s Obi-Wan instead? Actually, this is a theory that is slightly acknowledged in Revenge of the Sith, when Hayden Christensen’s Anakin, brimming with accusatory rage, does seem to suggest when he says to his wife “You’re with him!” that Padmé may be having an affair with his old Master. But sorry, fans. Until Maury Povich says otherwise, Anakin is definitely the father.
So you see that rumormongering is usually not that fruitful an activity. Not that we’re discouraging your theories about the new trilogy! Just understand that they are likely to be proven totally wrong, and not just from a certain point of view.
Follow Christian Blauvelt on Twitter @Ctblauvelt
[Photo Credit: Lucasfilm]
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Oh, hey there. Here's some great news to start your day. Paramount optioned Furious Love, a book by Sam Kashner about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton and their "torrid and tempestuous romance that is the stuff of a Hollywood legend," as a potential directing gig for Mr. "torrid and tempestuous" himself: Martin Scorsese. According to Deadline, along with the optioning, fresh Oscar-winner Natalie Portman is rumored to play the late Hollywood icon and The King's Speech scribe David Seidler might adapt the screenplay -- and to all of this we say, "Holy shit."
Supposedly, Scorsese has been interested in helming a Hollywood drama for some time (he's currently working on a Frank Sinatra biopic and spent some earlier years in his career trying to get a Dean Martin film off the ground), but this one won't be a "biopic." He seems to be more interested in the culture and drama surrounding classic Hollywood affairs -- and boy, this one had some drama. Taylor and Burton fell in love on the set of Cleopatra in Italy, divorced their then-significant-others, were condemned by the Vatican, married in 1964, divorced ten years later, remarried one year following that, then divorced a second time, and presumedly had lots of sex throughout the whole thing. In other words -- if all of these what-ifs come together, Furious Love is going to be awesome.
Source: Deadline

The first and most important thing you should know about Paramount Pictures’ Thor is that it’s not a laughably corny comic book adaptation. Though you might find it hokey to hear a bunch of muscled heroes talk like British royalty while walking around the American Southwest in LARP garb director Kenneth Branagh has condensed vast Marvel mythology to make an accessible straightforward fantasy epic. Like most films of its ilk I’ve got some issues with its internal logic aesthetic and dialogue but the flaws didn’t keep me from having fun with this extra dimensional adventure.
Taking notes from fellow Avenger Iron Man the story begins with an enthralling event that takes place in a remote desert but quickly jumps back in time to tell the prologue which introduces the audience to the shining kingdom of Asgard and its various champions. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) son of Odin is heir to the throne but is an arrogant overeager and ill-tempered rogue whose aggressive antics threaten a shaky truce between his people and the frost giants of Jotunheim one of the universe’s many realms. Odin (played with aristocratic boldness by Anthony Hopkins) enraged by his son’s blatant disregard of his orders to forgo an assault on their enemies after they attempt to reclaim a powerful artifact banishes the boy to a life among the mortals of Earth leaving Asgard defenseless against the treachery of Loki his mischievous “other son” who’s always felt inferior to Thor. Powerless and confused the disgraced Prince finds unlikely allies in a trio of scientists (Natalie Portman Stellan Skarsgard and Kat Dennings) who help him reclaim his former glory and defend our world from total destruction.
Individually the make-up visual effects CGI production design and art direction are all wondrous to behold but when fused together to create larger-than-life set pieces and action sequences the collaborative result is often unharmonious. I’m not knocking the 3D presentation; unlike 2010’s genre counterpart Clash of the Titans the filmmakers had plenty of time to perfect the third dimension and there are only a few moments that make the decision to convert look like it was a bad one. It’s the unavoidable overload of visual trickery that’s to blame for the frost giants’ icy weaponized constructs and other hybrids of the production looking noticeably artificial. Though there’s some imagery to nitpick the same can’t be said of Thor’s thunderous sound design which is amped with enough wattage to power The Avengers’ headquarters for a century.
Chock full of nods to the comics the screenplay is both a strength and weakness for the film. The story is well sequenced giving the audience enough time between action scenes to grasp the characters motivations and the plot but there are tangential narrative threads that disrupt the focus of the film. Chief amongst them is the frost giants’ fore mentioned relic which is given lots of attention in the first act but has little effect on the outcome. In addition I felt that S.H.I.E.L.D. was nearly irrelevant this time around; other than introducing Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye the secret security faction just gets in the way of the movie’s momentum.
While most of the comedy crashes and burns there are a few laughs to be found in the film. Most come from star Hemsworth’s charismatic portrayal of the God of Thunder. He plays up the stranger-in-a-strange-land aspect of the story with his cavalier but charming attitude and by breaking all rules of diner etiquette in a particularly funny scene with the scientists whose respective roles as love interest (Portman) friendly father figure (Skarsgaard) and POV character (Dennings) are ripped right out of a screenwriters handbook.
Though he handles the humorous moments without a problem Hemsworth struggles with some of the more dramatic scenes in the movie; the result of over-acting and too much time spent on the Australian soap opera Home and Away. Luckily he’s surrounded by a stellar supporting cast that fills the void. Most impressive is Tom Hiddleston who gives a truly humanistic performance as the jealous Loki. His arc steeped in Shakespearean tragedy (like Thor’s) drums up genuine sympathy that one rarely has for a comic book movie villain.
My grievances with the technical aspects of the production aside Branagh has succeeded in further exploring the Marvel Universe with a film that works both as a standalone superhero flick and as the next chapter in the story of The Avengers. Thor is very much a comic book film and doesn’t hide from the reputation that its predecessors have given the sub-genre or the tropes that define it. Balanced pretty evenly between “serious” and “silly ” its scope is large enough to please fans well versed in the source material but its tone is light enough to make it a mainstream hit.

Universal’s animated Easter-themed Hop had a much better-than-expected $37.5 million debut last weekend and has become the first film this year to repeat at the top of the chart with a gross of $21.7 million. Russell Brand who also stars in this week’s Arthur, is the voice of E.B., the teenage wannabe rockstar son of the Easter Bunny. Brand is suddenly be the king of the box office as he manages an impressive one-two finish this weekend as Hop nears the $70 million mark.
Speaking of which, Russell Brand stars as Arthur in Warner Bros.’ remake of the Dudley Moore massive comedy hit (the film earned $95.5 million in 1981!) which co-starred Liza Minnelli and spawned the sequel Arthur: On The Rocks in 1988. As the drunken spoiled-brat rich kid Brand is the perfect modern choice to take over the title role. The presence of Helen Mirren elevates the proceedings and the modern spin on this tale combined with a solid marketing campaign gave Arthur $12.6 million more in his considerable piggy bank.
Check out our exclusive Russell Brand-themed comic strip from Francesco Marciuliano. Francesco writes the internationally-syndicated comic strip “Sally Forth” and the webcomic “Medium Large.” He was the head writer for the PBS series “SeeMore’s Playhouse,” for which one of his episodes won two 2007 Daytime Emmys. He currently writes for the Onion News Network.
Both the family audience and the comedy fans are covered this weekend so Hanna from Focus Features filled the action role with a take-no-prisoners action film that features a terrific cast including Cate Blanchett, Eric Bana and Saoirse Ronan in the title role of the 16-year-old assassin. Channeling the spirit of such female-based action films as 1991’s La Femme Nikita and 1994’s The Professional, Hanna effectively drew both men and women to the multi-plex and hit the target with $12.3 million.
In fourth place, Sony’s Soul Surfer tells the true story of teenaged champion surfer Bethany Hamilton’s (AnnaSophia Robb) incredible recovery from a terrifying shark attack that took her left arm. Starring Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid, the PG-rated film earned $11.1 million this weekend drawing both families and the faith-based audience looking for an uplifting experience at the movie theater.
Film District’s horror thriller Insidious had a small 27% second weekend drop which is much smaller than usual for a horror film and reflects strong critical and audience reaction to the film which has earned $27.1 million to date.
Debuting in sixth place is Universal’s Your Highness which presents brotherly rivalry in the days of knights and maidens and takes it to a new high. Starring Danny McBride and James Franco as unlikely brothers Thadeous and Fabious, the film follows the misadventures of the pair as they embark on a quest to rescue Fabious’s bride Isabel as played by Zooey Deshannel. Boasting plenty of tongue-in-cheek Oscar-cred with both Franco and Portman well represented at this year’s Academy Awards, Your Highness scored a gross of $9.5 million.
Notably opening on 206 screens this weekend in IMAX is the family-friendly documentary adventure Born to be Wild 3-D from Warner Bros. The film wrangled an opening weekend gross of $850,000 and a per-screen average of $4,126.
Also notable this weekend is the second release from Pantelion Films (a division of Lionsgate Films) titled No Eres Tu, Soy Yo which played in 226 theaters in the top 20 Latino markets
This is the seventh consecutive down weekend at the box office with year ago comparisons once again tough as Clash of the Titans in its second weekend and Date Night in its debut both earned over $25 million and How To Train Your Dragon remained strong with a $24.9 million 3rd weekend.
Weekend Box-Office Estimates
Top Movies - For Weekend of April 8, 2011
Movie Weekend Gross Total to Date
1 Hop (PG) $21.7M $68.1M
2 Arthur (PG-13) $12.6M $12.6M
3 Hanna (PG-13) $12.3M $12.3M
4 Soul Surfer (PG) $11.1M $11.1M
5 Insidious (PG-13) $9.7M $27.1M
6 Your Highness (R) $9.5M $9.5M
7 Source Code (PG-13) $9.0M $28.6M
8 Limitless (PG-13) $5.7M $64.4M
9 Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2 (PG) $4.9M $45.5M
10 The Lincoln Lawyer (R) $4.6M $46.5M

So apparently, Mike Huckabee forgot that criticizing the pop culture that people enjoy -- whether it's celebrities, TV shows, or movies -- is a horrible idea. The former Arkansas and likely the next Republican candidate for president railed on Natalie Portman for "glamorizing the idea of out-of-wedlock children." Remember when Dan Quayle said Murphy Brown contributed to the decay of moral values in America? Then, remember how he and George Bush Sr. lost to Bill Clinton in the election? Yeah, not necessarily the smartest political move there, Huckabee. -US Weekly
In Charlie Sheen News, he announced via Twitter last night that he's writing a book. "The title of my book has finally been delivered thru vast and extensive Lunar channels. Apocalypse Me," he wrote. And, well, what does the name mean? "Warlock latin for WINNING." Awesome, Sheen. Hopefully, it will be a picture book featuring him in different warlock poses, starting with this one from The AV Club. -Twitter
Austin Powers has finally settled down. In a secret wedding, Mike Myers married his longtime girlfriend Kelly Tisdale almost five months ago but are finally confirming their private NYC ceremony. The two have been dating since 2006, shortly after Myers broke it off with his first wife Robin Ruzan, to whom he was married for 12 years. Congratulations! -NY Post

Who's going to be taking home lots of little golden men this Sunday? Check out our predictions for the 83rd Annual Oscars and get a leg up on your picks (we know you're all secretly hosting lavish Oscar parties this weekend).
Best Picture: The King's Speech
We all know the Oscars have a formula. The Academy loves biopics, art-house films and, well, the Holocaust. Looking at the nominees this year -- and since there isn't a WWII drama -- the two obvious standouts are The King's Speech and The Social Network. Both are based on a true story. Both sport a strong leading actor. And both, well, are fantastic films. That said, The King's Speech will win Best Picture. Not because it's a "better" film than The Social Network, but because it's a better fit for the Oscar mold.
Bottom Line: It's got that historic feel (which the Academy loves), an epic character struggle (which the Academy loves) and a few tear-jerking moments (which the Academy definitely loves). Sorry, Fincher. Maybe next time. -Eric Sundermann
Best Actor: Colin Firth
We all know The King’s Speech was a fantastic film in all aspects, but it would not be such a success without its charismatic leading man. Firth has been serving up gems in the movieverse for years (even if they were book-ended with Bridget Jones Diary and What a Girl Wants); the man is a fantastic actor. I knew this way back when he was playing Mr. Darcy in the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice, but after the inspiring, heartfelt performance he delivered in The King’s Speech I'm not the only one who sees it.
Bottom Line: I doubt anyone will be crying when the other four actors congratulate Firth on his well-deserved win. -Kelsea Stahler
Best Actress: Natalie Portman
For her role in Black Swan, Natalie Portman has already won a Golden Globe, a SAG and a BAFTA award. This means by the time we come to her category during the Oscars ceremony, there will not be any surprise when her name is -- almost surely -- called once again. However, since Natalie has only been nominated twice (and certainly has many more nominations ahead of her) whereas The Kids Are All Right star Annette Bening has been nominated four times, there’s a slight chance that The Academy could believe Bening is slightly more worthy of the trophy because she’s waited longer to receive it.
Bottom Line: Bening’s performance this year was especially heartfelt and compelling, whereas Portman’s (while undoubtedly great) lacked the same kind of emotional weight, which means Bening really could come out ahead. -Hannah Lawrence
Best Supporting Actor: Christian Bale
Bale has been waiting for a role like Dicky Eklund his entire life; one that would satisfy his creative desire while also wowing critics and helping the acclaimed film in which he co-stars (it’s The Fighter, in case you don’t have cable, internet, a phone or a life) achieve massive commercial success. He stole every scene in David O. Russell’s rousing boxing drama with intense dedication to his character as he physically and psychologically transformed into a drug-addicted former bruiser living in denial. He’s both the comic relief in the picture as well as its most tragic figure and though there are more than a handful of standout scenes to support my prediction, I’d tell you to look at the final shot of the film for proof of how stunning his performance is.
Bottom Line: If we are in store for an upset on Sunday, it’d be Geoffrey Rush taking home his second Academy Award for his prestigious portrayal of Lionel Logue in The King’s Speech. -Daniel Hubschman
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo
Melissa Leo has long been the frontrunner to receive an Oscar for her role in The Fighter, but there’s a possibility she may have lost valuable votes when she released a series of glamorous photos of herself that were widely considered to be a campaign (which is, SO TACKY, to be polite). So with that in mind, it’s important to consider Hailee Steinfeld’s performance in True Grit.
Bottom Line: Though it’s unlikely that someone so young would suddenly come on the scene and walk away with an award, Steinfeld nailed her character and asserted herself as a talent that will always and forever prevent the other women in her category from ever getting truly comfortable with their own work. -Hannah Lawrence
Best Director: David Fincher
In my book, Fincher was robbed of his Best Achievement in Directing award in 2009 for the unreasonably overlooked The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, arguably the filmmaker’s most mainstream movie until this year’s The Social Network. He deserves the Oscar not only for working way outside his comfort zone, but for putting his signature all over a film foreign to his own style. Nearly every shot is trademark Fincher as is its alarming tone that helped mount the tension between the characters. In a year when the majority of the Best Picture nominees were led to the Kodak Theater on the shoulders of its stars, The Social Network has achieved its success because of its quality as a complete production, and the honor belongs mainly to its helmsman.
Bottom Line: Of course, The King’s Speech is poised to take Best Picture and that film’s director, Tom Hooper, has been lauded to the same degree as Fincher. Though it would be saddening (for me, and many fans), a Hooper win wouldn’t exactly be surprising considering his film has much more momentum going into the ceremony. -Daniel Hubschman
Best Original Screenplay: The King's Speech
Let's face it, The King's Speech is probably going to win the award, and it should. David Seidler has been sitting on the script for many years, twiddling his thumbs to tell his story and it is a remarkable one. But, it is no Inception. And while many derided Chris Nolan's film for its weak dialogue, I counter that by saying all the incredible visuals in the film were first found in the pages of script. Every kick, every city folding in on itself, every level of dream started out in the screenplay. The set pieces were so awesome it didn't need great dialogue.
Bottom Line: Inception deserves the win. -Sam Morgan
Best Adapted Screenplay: The Social Network
The Social Network probably won't land its deserved Best Picture Oscar, but we predict the Academy won't snub the film twice (well, thrice if David Fincher doesn't get Best Director). In this category (that is, still, very confusing because Toy Story 3 is nominated), The Social Network is the frontrunner that not only will win, but deserves to win. Think about it. At its heart, it's a movie about the founding of a freakin' website. A website! Sure, it's a multi-billion dollar website, but ultimately, it's based on something that we can't even physically hold in our hands.
Bottom line: Aaron Sorkin's words carried the picture and after years in the industry he deserves his first Oscar. -Eric Sundermann
Best Animated Feature: Toy Story 3
This one’s a toughie for me because we grew up with the Toy Story movies and Toy Story 3 not only completed the trilogy perfectly, but contained a message that allows the film to stand on its own for youngsters who haven’t had the chance to enjoy the original(s). I think this final chapter deserves the win, but DreamWorks' How to Train Your Dragon was such a heartwarming, delightful surprise that combined the freedom of animation with more heart than many serious dramas from 2010 can boast. We laughed, we cried, we were moved and all because of some mythical creatures!
Bottom Line: Toy Story 3 will get the win, and it deserves to, but I wouldn’t be so bummed if Dragon sneaked in there. –Kelsea Stahler
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Documentaries are often the strongest category in any given year at Oscars. 2011 is no exception. We'll play it safe and go with Inside Job just because the award went to an environmental doc last year. But Restrepo could take the trophy as well thanks to its haunting portrayal of the war in Afghanistan. Of course, the real winner should be Exit Through the Gift Shop if only to see what Banksy would do if he won.
Bottom Line: The documentary was fantastic, but putting Banksy in front of Hollywood is too good an opportunity to pass up. -Sam Morgan

In today’s match up, we have the dumb-ass Eric pleading his case why Michelle Williams should win the Oscar for Best Actress. In the other corner, we have Sam arguing in favor of the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence. Guess who got to write the intro?
Let the games begin!
Sam: Lawrence is really, really good in Winter’s Bone. Like, "oh my god, Good" with a capital GOOD LORD SHE IS AWESOME. Seriously, I have never seen a performance like hers. If acting is defined by the ability to completely take on a new personality and lose oneself in a character, then Lawrence destroyed all the competition this year. If you remove all the other elements of the film, from its pacing to its themes, and just focus on the performance you will see why Lawrence kicked all kinds of ass.
Sure, the Oscar will probably go to Natalie Portman or Annette Benning, but Lawrence delivered the most stunning performance of the year and did it with just the experience of working on The Bill Engvall Show.
Eric: Nice argument, Sam. Except you forgot that Michelle Williams is really, really, REALLY good in Blue Valentine. Like, "oh my god, GOOD" with EVERY LETTER CAPITALIZED. In the film, she took on the challenge of playing two completely different characters and depicted each perfectly. At the beginning of the relationship between her Cindy and Ryan Gosling's Dean (brilliantly interwoven with the end of the relationship, by the way. Way to go, Derek Cianfrance), we see a girl who's young, innocent and full of life -- even though she's scared. Without giving too much away, it's obvious why she loves Dean, why she relies on him and why they end up together. But in the other half, Williams portrays a completely different woman -- a worn-out mother forced to carry the weight of her family and all the responsibilities that come with one. She's detached from her marriage and her own life and is simply tired of trying to make things work when they're just not meant to. Blue Valentine hinges on her performance and because of her flawless delivery, the film stands as one of the best of the year.
Sam: Eric, how did you get this job? Do you fill some affirmative action quota or something? You're saying some actress gives a performance where she has to be happy AND sad? My god, the RANGE! People go through break-ups all the time, there's nothing new, nothing different about that. You want to know what is new and different? Hunting down your father in the meth-infested Ozarks while simultaneously taking care of two younger siblings. BOOM. That is acting.
And please, Williams had Ryan Gosling to work with. No wonder she was so good; she had one of the smartest, best looking and most capable actors in the business helping her out! You know who Lawrence had? Meth. That's who helped her out. (Not really, I don't think. I doubt she did actual meth. Just saying she was alone for most of the film and carried it just fine by herself).
Eric: See, this is exactly why you're wrong. You say that there's nothing special or different about break-ups, but really, what makes drug use so damn interesting? "Oh my god, they're addicted to drugs! Oh my god, it's a big deal!" Blah blah, blah blah. We've seen movies about drug use over the years and I get it, it's hard. And the world around those drugs is hard. But the bottom line is that it's drugs. We know the story we're going to get. Sure, Lawrence's performance was strong, I'm not denying that, but it was the drug issues surrounding her life that helped her illustrate that problem. Because of that, it wasn't on the same emotional level that Williams achieved.
Williams was a broken woman. Blue Valentine wasn't just about the end of a relationship that once was "happy" and now it's "sad," but it was about removing yourself from a situation where you relied on the other person to live. There weren't any other outside factors like drugs influencing their problems. It was just the simple fact that those characters fucked up. And now, they -- and the people around them, including her daughter -- must deal with the consequences.
Oh, and SORRY for having an excellent actor to work with. God forbid we pair couples that work well together in movies!
Sam: Damn it Eric, you're like ordering shrimp at McDonald's - just wrong. Williams and Gosling got everything that happened to them because of what they did. Everything that was brought down on them was their fault. Lawrence faced something not because of her own doing but because she HAD to do it. And I think dealing with internal problems is much less deserving of award-recognition then dealing with outside foes. Who the fuck wants to watch some one navel gaze when they can have Aragon facing down a thunderous mountain of orcs? Or the picture to the left?
But I digress. What truly matters is that we have two wonderful performances by two very lovely actresses. Let's take a break from bickering and enjoy them looking their very best here (Lawrence) and here (Williams).
And don't think because I turned the subject to boobs that you're off the hook, Eric. You're still an ignorant slut.
Until next time dickwads, here's another picture of the lovely Jennifer Lawrence.